


Side Trip

by rabidsamfan



Series: Diversions [4]
Category: Cabin Pressure, Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 17:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1655873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabidsamfan/pseuds/rabidsamfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short scene set just after <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1591286">Delhi</a> as Martin and Tony head for home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Side Trip

**Author's Note:**

  * For [indiw](https://archiveofourown.org/users/indiw/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Delhi](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1591286) by [flawedamythyst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flawedamythyst/pseuds/flawedamythyst). 



> This is what happens when you're stuck home sick for three days with new canon to contemplate. And because indiw also wondered about Martin's van in the comments on Delhi. There's more, but it got very convoluted so it can just exist in the pencil scrawl in my notebook...

The van engine ground into life and Tony paused in the process of buckling his seat belt. “You fixed the starter,” he observed, and then slid the clip home until he heard the click.

“Yeah,” Martin said, scowling at the dashboard instruments. “But the alternator still needs new brushes.” He checked his own belt, and then turned to touch his flight bag, resting between the bucket seats. Tony’s overnight bag was half under it, and Martin fussed a little until they were side by side before taking off his hat and carefully resting it on top of them. Tony waited; he’d noticed how careful Martin was as a driver the last time he came to Fitton. It was like he had a checklist to go through before he could put the car into gear. Belts fastened, lights on, blinkers working, mirrors in position, nothing unexpected down by the footpedals. Martin put the van into gear and started out of the parking lot.

“Couldn’t your mechanic fix the alternator when they fixed the starter?” Tony asked, just to make some conversation. He wondered if there were any jelly babies in the glove box. He really liked the purple ones.

“I didn’t have time,” Martin said, and then pulled a face. “Or the parts. They don’t cost much, but if I’m going to pull the alternator for the brushes and slip rings I want to replace the bearings too, and I can’t affo... well, I suppose maybe now I could. Or I can once Carolyn actually gives me a paycheck..”

That didn’t sound like Martin took his van to a garage. That sounded like Martin did the work himself. Tony forgot about jelly babies. “Oh, can’t we pick up the parts and do the work tomorrow afternoon? I mean, if you really can’t afford them yet I’ll buy them and you can pay me back when you can afford them because I know you’d rather afford them than just get given them and all but if we had the parts we could spend the afternoon messing around with your engine before we went in and messed around with each other.” It came out all on one breath, because Tony couldn’t even begin to think about how sexy Martin would look with a little engine grease for decoration.

Martin glanced over and then put his eyes back on the road. “Tony, you don’t have to spend your day with me fixing my life,” he said, tiredly.

“I don’t want to fix your life,” Tony said, and then to forestall the snort of disbelief, “Well, yeah, I do, but I’ve already done as much of that as I’m going to and believe me I’ll ask if I come up with any other ideas, because I don’t want to go through that again so this is me asking but I’m not asking to fix your life, because what I want to do is play with your car.”

“Play?”

“Please? Pepper promised not to call me tomorrow all day, and I haven’t got the suit with me so Cap can’t call me in either, and I wanna do something fun.” Tony knew he sounded like a five year old, but he couldn’t help it. He’d spent the whole day with Martin mad at him and he hadn’t been able to get any sleep on the flight. Even if he had designed new convertible seat/bed things to go into GERTI once he’d convinced Carolyn to let him do it.

But Martin had been sidetracked. “You don’t have the suit?” he exclaimed.

“Okay, I do. It’s in a crate in GERTI’s cargo bay -- you must have seen it on the manifest -- but I’m not going to go back early unless there’s an alien invasion. And Loki doesn’t count. He’s not an alien invasion, he’s a monumental nuisance.”

“I did see something on the manifest.” Martin stopped at a red light and took the chance to look at Tony. “You’ll get your clothes all greasy,” he said, and whether it was a warning or an objection wasn’t clear. “And I’m not sure it’s worth the effort. This thing is older than I am.”

“Old cars are more fun to work on,” Tony said. “You saw the garage at Malibu.”

“I walked through the garage at Malibu.” The light had changed and Martin put the van back into gear. “I wasn’t looking at the cars though. I was watching your ... um... “

Martin had been walking behind him. “You were watching my ass!” Tony crowed. “Ha! Next time we’re there you walk ahead and that way you might actually see and appreciate my 1924 Aston-Martin. Man, it took me years to get the fiddly bits on that right.”

Martin was quiet for the next two turns, as if he were thinking, and Tony bit down hard on his impatience. He didn’t want to push too hard, and he was so naturally pushy that it wasn’t easy to gauge how much was too much.

“I have been in your workshop,” Martin said at last. “It’s always full of parts of things, and things in parts.”

“Yup.”

“You _like_ fixing things.”

“Yup.” This sounded promising.

Martin made him wait another turn. They were almost to his house now. Tony could see it just up the road. 

“I’ve two conditions,” Martin said, flipping the signal to turn in at the driveway. “First, you’ve got to promise that she’ll be back together and in working order before we go to bed tomorrow.”

“Absolutely,” Tony said. After all, getting Martin into bed after they’d done some work wouldn’t even happen if Martin thought the van wouldn’t get them back to the airfield. “And?”

Martin parked the van and shut it down, and then turned to smile at Tony. “No missile launchers. Not even if I beg you for them while we’re fighting Coventry traffic.”

Tony felt like his grin was going to take over his whole head. “Right,” he said. “No missile launchers.” And then he launched himself at Martin for a good, happy kiss. Tomorrow was going to be so. Much. FUN!


End file.
